But Lily, Veela!
by Swordchucks
Summary: James, always one to look out for his son's best interests, takes steps to secure his future. Oh, and make Sirius really jealous. AU Harry/Fleur


AN: The first chapter of this story uses a fragmented storytelling style that gives a lot of short scenes that hit things lightly without going into too much detail. This is intentional and don't expect it to change (I had people complain about a similar style in A Friend In Deed) for this chapter, at least. I'm not actively working on this story at this instant, but I'd definitely like to write more of this at some point.

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**But Lily, Veela!**

**Chapter 1: Capitulation**

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"But Lily, Veela!"

"James Alexander Potter. For the last time, we are not signing any marriage contracts for Harry. He's not even a week old yet!" Lily growled for the fifth time in as many hours. Since their son had been born, they'd received dozens of offers of betrothal for him, owing in no small part to his status as the heir to the Potter fortune.

"Lillllllly," James whined. "Veela! A rich Veela from a noble family, even. An honest to goodness Veela! Sirius will be so jealous."

Lily slammed her book closed and massaged her temples. "If I agree to one of these, you're going to stop, right?"

James nodded emphatically.

"You're going to make sure there's a no-cost escape clause in there if he doesn't like her, right? And tests for compulsions and all of that?"

Again, James' head bounced up and down frantically.

"Fine, then, but just the one. No harems."

"Aw…"

oOoOoOoOo

The stately Frenchman glared at yet another Ministry flunky that seemed intent on delaying his arrival at the Chief Warlock's offices. Finally having enough, Jules Delacour pushed past the man and on into the waiting room beyond. Not bothering to slow down for the receptionist and ignoring her increasingly frantic cries for him to stop, he pushed straight into Dumbledore's offices.

"Mr. Dumbledore, I must insist that you turn my daughter's betrothed over to us. We did not even receive official notification of the death of his parents," Jules ground out. As the head of the French Minsitry's Department of International Affairs, he was one of the three most powerful wizards in his homeland. The fact that the English had dared to hide away his future son-in-law had him teetering on the edge of a full blow rage.

So intent on his target was he that he very nearly didn't notice the English Minister, Millicent Bagnold, sitting in the ornate chair across from Dumbledore. For his part, the Chief Warlock seemed unfazed by the confrontation and peered at Jules over the top of his half-moon glasses. "Mr. Delacour, I can assure you that Mr. Potter is in the best possible place-"

"The boy's legal guardian has been arrested for getting his parents killed. I know the terms of the Potter will as well as anyone since I was a witness to it not a year ago. In the event of their death, he was to go to that fiend Black, and then he was to go to us. No one else is listed, nor are they needed. Now, the question becomes, where is Mr. Potter," Jules grated out again, the school headmaster's flippant answer stoking the fires of his anger.

"He is safe, as I have said, Mr. Delacour. There is no safer place-"

"Mr. Dumbledore, I do not care what you believe is best. The law gives my family clear right to shelter him. If you do not deliver him within a fortnight, we will bring this matter before the ICW," he said, after cutting the older statesman off. He composed himself enough to give a stiff nod to the Minister. "Good day to you, sir, and you, Madame Minister." With that, he turned on his heel and marched back out of the office.

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In the end, it took almost a year for a full ICW trial to finish and grant custody of the young Harry Potter to his betrothed's family. As the Delacours were well off, the court ordered the Potter fortunes to be sealed until his age of majority, with the exception of a rather small trust vault that had already been established for the boy.

"Jules, he doesn't look like he's eaten in days," Apolline Delacour gasped as she took the toddler from his arms and cradled his frail form to her. "We will have to bring him to a healer as soon as possible. Who knows what this will mean for him later in life?"

"Had them with the worst sort of Muggles. The English are savages," he muttered as he silently swore to never let Harry suffer like that under his care.

oOoOoOoOo

Even a ranking government official can only hurry along Healers to a certain degree. Six hours later, the Delacours arrived home with their new charge in hand. The Healers had done an extensive workup on him, noting the curse damage with its residue of dark magic and several physical problems brought about by neglect and abuse. The medical report was enough to make Jules' stomach turn. Fortunately, there was a purification ritual that the Healers suggested be used weekly and a battery of potions for daily use that would help stave off the worst effects of both kinds of malady.

They relieved their nanny and brought Fleur, who was almost five, in to see Harry.

"Fleur, meet Harry. He's going to be your husband some day," her mother said gently.

Fleur's brilliant blue eyes lit up. "Really? But he's so small."

"He's small now, dear, but he's going to grow up big and strong. For now, you're going to be good friends as he's living here with us. He'll be like a little brother… but not quite. Remember, one day you'll get a chance to marry him like I married your daddy," her mother gently explained. Fleur was eating it up and looking quite exited.

Cradling the small body of Harry made her really want another child. She decided to start working on Jules about that as soon has Harry was settled in.

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Things went wonderfully for the year after Harry came into the Delacour home. The emotional trauma the poor boy had suffered was mostly erased and he had attached himself to Fleur as thoroughly as one child could to another. Fleur, for her part, loved him, though they were too young for anything but innocent, sibling love.

As Minister Bonner retired, Jules had thrown his hat into the ring as a candidate and was doing surprisingly well. The French Ministry had been one of the most progressive in Europe for several centuries, and their recognition of most near-human races as equal with humans was both controversial and popular. By leveraging the unique skills and abilities of the half-races, everyone prospered. Who better to perform manual labor than a half-giant? Who more adept at fishing than mermen?

There was still stigma, of course, especially against werewolves and vampires, but even that had begun to fade with the Full Moon Acts and the arrangement reached with the Parisian blood banks. Jules had played a role, though sometimes small, in most of the legislation of that sort for twenty years. Of course, as popular as all of these things were, Jules was still shocked when he managed to win the election.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jules said as he beamed a smile at all of those present. "I am pleased to see that the witches and wizards have spoken and elected me as the new Minister of Magic. It is time to show the rest of the world that France is not content to follow, but that we will lead boldly into the next century. We have already started down the road to true magical equality, but I promise you now that under my administration, we will look to the merit in all creatures of magic, so that all may prosper."

The crowd cheered and Jules waved and smiled. Things were looking up.

oOoOoOoOo

"Harry, you're getting to be a young man, now, and it's time we talked about something," Jules said, placing a strong hand on Harry's shoulder. "You know that we're not your real parents, but we've never really talked to you about James and Lily Potter. I need to tell you a story… you may not understand all of it now, but you will some day," he said and launched into the story of Voldemort's first rise and how it ended. Harry gaped and asked a few questions which Jules answered.

"Now, I have some friends who are going to come by a few days a week and start teaching you some magic. It's very important that you listen to them exactly and don't try to use any wand without an adult around who knows what you are doing. It's also important for you to learn these things, since you might need them to help protect Fleur, some day. You want to protect her, don't you?"

Harry nodded emphatically and Jules smiled. Harry might not understand what "betrothed" meant, but he certainly understood that Fleur was his to protect as she was his to take care of. It was quite cute, but his determination was real. The fact that she reciprocated made it all the more heartwarming.

oOoOoOoOo

Apolline smiled as she watched her children playing in the back yard. Fleur, now nine, was hovering two feet off the air on a training broom as a laughing Harry, now almost seven, chased her. Little Gabby, nearing two years old, toddled after Harry for a while before sitting down to play with the flowers.

Both Harry and Fleur were students at one of France's premier preparatory schools for magical students. They didn't learn wanded magic there, but they certainly learned a lot about potions, magical creatures, and runes along with the things they'd have learned in a muggle institution. They'd both attended since they were five and were among the top in their respective classes. The two of them also took part in an impromptu series of training sessions provided by Aurors because they were so close to the Minister. Kidnapping prevention and escape and muggle style physical defense, along with some of the more 'gentle' means of magical defense were part of the lessons, she knew. It wasn't good to allow children to practice too much magic as it could stunt their magical growth, though, so the lessons were kept light in that department.

Gabrielle chose that moment to fall down while chasing Harry and he was quickly at her side, comforting the crying girl. Apolline smiled at the tenderness the boy showed for her. So far, Gabby had only spoken one word, and it was her name for Harry. Amusingly enough, it was "mine". Fleur had landed and was hugging her sister by that point and Apolline's smile grew.

She just hoped that Gabrielle could get over the disappointment when her sister married her hero.

oOoOoOoOo

The saddest day of young Harry Potter's life, that he could remember, anyway, was the day that Fleur left for Beauxbatons. He was old enough to know that she was not his sister, but he thought of her as one… kind of. Of course, he still had Gabrielle and his own school to go to, so he persevered. He started pushing himself more and more to everything that he could, since his dream was to skip years to be with Fleur again.

Thus, the first year without Fleur flew by as Harry buried himself in books and study. When Fleur was back for Christmas, he never left her side, clinging to her constantly. She seemed to think it cute and put up with his behavior, though she insisted that he sleep in his own bed as it would 'not be proper' if he joined her in hers. This, of course, confused him because it had never been an issue before, but he knew better than to argue.

During the summer, he was more himself, spending every free moment with his 'not-sisters' and playing. He stole Fleur's books at night and read them cover to cover, though he didn't understand much of what was in them. He even made Fleur let him help her with her homework, though his help translated to more of having Fleur teach him what she was learning than anything else.

Eventually, she went back to school, but this time Harry did not miss her so much. In addition to the things that he always did, namely studying and playing with Gabrielle, he daydreamed that one day he and Fleur and Gabby would all live together in a big house somewhere forever and ever. Madame and Monsieur Delacour would be there, too, of course, as Harry didn't quite grasp some of the new concepts that were forming in his mind.

Time again flew and before long, Fleur was home after her third year, and she'd learned something new. Specifically, she taught Harry how to kiss a girl. They didn't get a whole lot out of it, but it was fun and made them feel adult, so they did it fairly often. Apolline caught them at one point and sat Fleur down for a very long, very embarrassing talk. She then made Fleur an appointment to speak to a Healer about getting on the contraceptive potion.

They were obviously too young to be engaging in those activities, but if Fleur was with child before Harry turned seventeen, it would void their betrothal and prevent the child from ever inheriting from the Potter line, regardless of the child's father. It was a standard clause put into place to prevent a particularly wily girl from circumventing the escape clauses in the contract.

After that, they still kissed, but they were more careful about being seen. Fleur also had a lot of things to think about now that she'd had the 'sex talk' from her mother. She planned to start Harry off as soon as he started to show an interest. If he was going to be her lover, she wanted him trained up right, after all.

On Harry's eleventh birthday, several letters were delivered by the Auror that was in charge of screening the Delacour mail. He'd received invitations from twelve magical schools, two more than Fleur had gotten, and many of them were promising him all sorts of fringe benefits if he would attend their institution, but only one school had something he cared about, and that was Beauxbatons.


End file.
